In the world of two-way radio, you have your cheap, accessible radios and then you have your robust, commercial-grade tools. The Kenwood TK-290 falls squarely into the latter category. While it may not have the modern bells and whistles of a 2025 radio, it’s a solid, heavy-duty piece of gear that gets the job done—as long as you know what you’re getting yourself into.
Rugged and Reliable… But Not On the Fly
First things first, this thing is built like a tank. It’s got a solid, hefty feel that inspires confidence, especially when you’re out in the Arizona desert or navigating a rough trail. Unlike some of the cheaper plastic radios you find on the market, the TK-290 is designed for professional use, with military-grade ruggedness. The audio quality is fantastic—it’s got that deep, clear commercial sound that cuts through noise better than many of its amateur-grade counterparts.
This radio is a workhorse, and for good reason. It’s been a staple for public safety, government, and utility sectors for years. It has a respectable 160 channel capacity and features like dual priority scan, giving you the ability to monitor multiple important frequencies. The LCD screen is a simple 7-character alphanumeric display, which is more than enough for what this radio is designed to do.
You can really feel the history in these radios. Several of the ones I’ve come across have been used previously by the Los Angeles County Fire Department. They’ve been through who knows how many fires, rescue missions, and emergency calls, and yet they still work perfectly. It’s a testament to their incredibly durable construction and a reminder that these radios were designed to withstand the absolute worst conditions imaginable. They’ve earned their scars.
The Major Downfall: No FPP (Front Panel Programming)
Now, here’s the kicker, and it’s a big one if you’re used to the convenience of a Baofeng. The Kenwood TK-290 lacks true Front Panel Programming. For anyone who enjoys the freedom of FPP to set up a new simplex frequency or a repeater on the fly, this radio will feel incredibly restrictive. You can’t just punch in a frequency and go.
Instead, the TK-290 relies on computer software and a proprietary programming cable (the KPG-36, for example). This means that to program a new repeater or channel, you have to connect the radio to a PC, use the software to input the frequency and other settings, and then “write” the data to the radio. This is a huge downside if you’re out in the field and need to quickly adapt to a new situation. It’s not a tool for ad-hoc, off-grid communication in the same way a Baofeng is.
While this might seem like a pain, it’s a feature, not a bug, from a commercial perspective. For businesses and public services, it ensures that all radios are programmed to a specific, standardized set of frequencies and features, preventing unauthorized changes. But for the average ham radio operator or bushcrafter, it’s a significant limitation.
Final Thoughts: A Tool with a Purpose
Overall, the Kenwood TK-290 is a fantastic radio, but you have to understand its purpose. It’s not a casual, flexible radio for experimenting and quick field programming. It’s a rugged, reliable, and purpose-built piece of equipment that shines when it’s pre-programmed for a specific set of tasks. As a Japanese-made commercial radio, its quality is top-notch, adhering to strict manufacturing standards that prioritize long-term performance and durability over user-friendly convenience. It’s a true professional’s tool, and when evaluated on that basis, it excels in every way.
I’d rate this radio at 5/5 stars for overall quality as a Japanese commercial radio. It’s a solid piece of hardware with excellent build quality and audio, and its lack of FPP is a deliberate design choice for the markets it serves. If you’re looking for a simple, bombproof radio to put on a few specific channels and never touch again, the TK-290 is a great choice. But if you need the freedom to adapt in the field, you’ll want to stick with a radio like the Baofeng.
For this review, we will begin based on claims that the seller has made, and to what extent said radio lives up to said claims.
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(Per the product listing + description here on amazon.com)
Tri-Band Flexibility for Licensed Amateur Operators: Unlock unparalleled versatility with the ability to operate across VHF, UHF, and the 1.25M band, offering broader communication options for licensed operators. With a powerful 10W output on VHF/UHF and 5W on 1.25M, the BF-F8HP PRO ensures you’re equipped for clear, reliable transmissions across multiple bands.
Emergency Ready with NOAA Weather Radio and GPS: Stay ahead of the storm with built-in NOAA weather mode, keeping you informed of severe weather. Paired with GPS location sharing, you’re always prepared for any situation, whether in emergencies or outdoor adventures.
Customizable Zone Management for Ultimate Control: Manage your communications with ease using customizable zone control, allowing you to organize up to 1000 channels across multiple zones. Dual independent zone control lets you monitor two zones simultaneously for ultimate flexibility.
Aviation Reception: The BF-F8HP PRO provides aviation band monitoring with 108-136 MHz coverage, AM modulation, and 8.33 kHz channel spacing. Ideal for aviation enthusiasts this feature allows you to stay updated on airband communications (RX only) with crystal-clear reception.
Firmware Updatable for Long-Term Value: Stay ahead of the game with firmware updates using the PC03 Programming Cable, ensuring your BF-F8HP PRO always has the latest features and performance enhancements. Unlike other distributors that push you to buy new radios for updates, we prioritize sustainability by reducing e-waste and designing a product built to last. Invest in a radio that grows with you, not again1st you.
BTECH is proud to be in the USA, which allows you to have the best available local support for any issue that may arise. BTECH only engineers and develops radio products. This brand focus allows you to have the best available radios and accessories with the most features, with real USA warranty and sup2port.
1. Tri Band TX/RX
This radio does have both 2, 1.25, and 70cm RX/TX capability. Note, however, that you may want to get a better antenna for use with 1.25 meter than the default secondary antenna that is provided. I can’t speak for how good the SWR of the provided antennas are, but I assume they are usable. Both antennas I received are of the “rubber duck” variety, meaning short, and rubbery, and not as high of gain as a longer whip antenna such as a Nagoya antenna or a Signal Stick antenna. I recommend a Nagoya antenna or an “Authentic Genuine Abree” clone of the Nagoya when it comes to more serious use, especially with VHF. Although, at the end of the day, whether you can hit a repeater or another simplex station on an HT with any antenna, the antenna matters less and more of where you and the radio are positioned. Overall, the radio meets these specific advertised claims. Let’s get to the next point.
2. NOAA weather listening capability.
NOAA weather listening works just as expected, and you can bind one of the two programmable SK (side key buttons) on the radio (located both above and below the PTT button) to start listening to NOAA weather radio. If you don’t hear a NOAA station, press and hold the “#” key on the radio until it starts scanning. You should hear a NOAA weather radio broadcast robot voice after a couple seconds or less. This can of course be extremely useful for getting weather information anytime and especially in a critical emergency or disaster where you don’t have internet access or need information in a quick, direct format.
3. GPS and GPS sharing.
I like the GPS feature on this radio, but it’s really not one of the radio’s strong points. If only for one major reason: This radio doesn’t share GPS location information via standard APRS packets; it uses an unknown proprietary protocol that Baofeng has made. This makes it impossible to interface with other systems such as those using a soundmodem (Direwolf) or APRS I-gates. Having said that, I do like it bechttps://amzn.to/4pqkYYLause it still works, and if you are using these radios as a team, it will let you easily share your speed, deg N/E/W/S, etc. to other users. But the format it shares over is this feature’s main weak point. If this radio did APRS for this price, it would be a STEAL.
4. Customizable Zone Management
The customizable zone management is a big plus for this radio. If you’re coming from a traditional Baofeng, you know how annoying it can be to scroll through hundreds of channels you don’t use to get to the handful you do. With zone management, you can group channels into logical sets. For example, you could have a “Local Repeaters” zone, a “Simplex” zone, and an “Emergency” zone. This makes operating the radio much more efficient and less frustrating. You can also monitor two zones at once, which is great for keeping an ear on a local repeater while also monitoring a specific simplex frequency. This feature definitely lives up to the claim and is a major improvement over older models.
5. Aviation Reception
The BF-F8HP PRO does indeed receive aviation communications in the 108-136 MHz range, and it does so with AM modulation, which is what’s used for airband comms. It’s a nice feature to have, especially if you’re an aviation enthusiast or just curious about what’s going on overhead. The reception is clear, and the 8.33 kHz channel spacing is a key feature, as it’s the new standard for many aviation frequencies. This is a “listen only” feature, so you can’t transmit on these frequencies, which is a good thing for safety and FCC regulations. The radio meets this claim perfectly, and it’s a neat bonus for a handheld radio in this price range.
6. Firmware Updatable
This is a big one. The ability to update the firmware on a Baofeng radio is a game-changer. Historically, when a new bug was found or a feature was added, you had to buy a new radio. BTECH’s claim of providing firmware updates through a PC03 programming cable means this radio has a longer lifespan and can be improved over time. The process of updating the firmware with BTECH’s official CPS tool was remarkably easy, as was uploading a large number of channels and information from RepeaterBook to the memory banks using CHIRP. It’s worth noting that while CHIRP is the quickest option for loading numerous channels, the official BTECH CPS software is the best for tweaking certain settings that are specific to this radio, giving you more granular control.
7. USA-based Support
BTECH is a USA-based company, and this is a huge advantage. If you’ve ever tried to get support for a generic Baofeng, you know it can be a nightmare. BTECH’s USA-based support means you can get help from real people who understand the product and can troubleshoot issues. They are also licensed amateur radio operators, so they speak the same language you do. This level of support, along with a real USA warranty, is worth its weight in gold. The focus on developing only radio products also means they are experts in their field. This claim is absolutely true and provides peace of mind that you’re not just buying a throwaway radio.
Picture provided from the baofeng website.
A Note on the Display
One minor point of contention for me, living in Arizona, is the display. While the color display is crisp and vibrant, and looks fantastic in low light or at night, it can be a bit challenging to read in the bright, direct sunlight that we get here. I’ve always preferred the high-contrast, monochrome LCDs for their excellent readability in full sun. However, for most use cases, the color display on this radio is superior and adds a modern feel to the device.
Final Verdict
Overall, the BTECH BF-F8HP PRO lives up to its claims. It’s a solid tri-band radio with a lot of features packed into a small package. The tri-band TX/RX is a great feature, and while the GPS isn’t perfect, it’s a nice addition for team use. The zone management, aviation reception, and firmware updatability are all major selling points that set this radio apart from its competition. When you factor in the USA-based support and warranty, it’s hard to beat the value proposition of this radio. I’d give it a 4/5 star rating overall. While it’s not a replacement for a high-end Icom or Kenwood, for the price, it’s a fantastic radio for any licensed amateur operator looking for a versatile and reliable handheld.
Pictured in my hands is the baofeng ar-152 (prc 152 look-a-like)
The baofeng AR-152, as all baofeng radios do, get mixed opinions and various takes on quality and other opinions from various ham radio operators and unlicensed users.
Here’s our opinion thus far:
Ad Hoc/Off Grid programmability and ease of configuration.
The user interface on this radio, like most other baofeng models, is designed in such a way that it is generally very easy to configure settings on the fly without a PC and a programming cable. When comparing with many commercially available radios and even quite a few more expensive handheld analog radios. Keep in mind this radio does not do DMR, or have a built in gps reciever or way of sending APRS packets built in, which can be quite the unfortunate downside for a radio to use in 2025. Still, the general simplicity of FPP (front panel programming) on this radio and cost mostly make up for this issue.
Pictured: A screenshot of the chirpc (chirp programming software) command line tool.
Chirp compatibility.
Although we have discussed previously the ease of off grid programming for most options, you are still unable to program repeater RX/TX pairs into this handheld without a PC and software such as Chirp. Although this is a downside, the plus side is is that Chirp is Free and Open Source software, and is easily installable from downloadable binaries at chirpmyradio.com. Remember to only download the software from this website or the official Github repository here. Chirp can pull repeater pairs directly from repeaterbook.com for extremely quick and easy programming once you have everything set up.
Memory bank/slots.
Quick note: This radio unfortunately only has 128 slots for storing pre-set channels or repeater pairs. Having said that, for simplex mode you can always switch into VFO and enter a frequency and ctcss or DCS tone/code.
General thoughts on the user interface.
One of the best things about this radio is how large the buttons and LCD screen is, which makes it very easy to both see the screen and use the keypad with gloves. The lcd is a plain, no color display, which is actually a large advantage in the bright sunshine of the deserts of Arizona where it would otherwise be much harder to see in direct daylight. The buttons are well placed. Something to note about these cheaper radios is the flashlight. They usually aren’t very bright but can be useful in a pinch. In Utah, for example, my phone was very low battery but I was exploring an old mineshaft. Needed anything I could get for light, as I didn’t currently have a regular edc light, but I had my baofeng. Flipped that on and I could see enough to make it out.
Some things that are not ideal/”Features” I dislike.
The charging port on this radio is a small barrel charger. It doesn’t have a regular “charging stand charger” which I don’t particularily mind but the main downside is that most of the newer baofeng models have a USB type C charging port directly on the battery, which is very useful for charging quickly with a solar panel or battery bank. Having said that, it did come with a USB-barrel charger, but that can get lost and it’s not a standard common cable. So if I could change one major thing, it would be the charging interface. Unlike a lot of other ‘fengs though, this comes with a very long lasting battery by default.
No belt clip on this radio 🙁
(therefore you will need a super cool radio pouch like this one) 😁
Overall, I would rate this radio at 4/5 stars. For the price, It’s very good, even for outdoor use/exploring. Get a decent pouch, extra batteries, and of course the radio itself via these links if you would like to help keep the Arizona Bushcraft website up and running, so we can give you quality product reviews (Not AI written) and guides on communications tech, outdoor survival, bushcraft gear and tips, and much more!
